Orthodontic appliance



un 7, 1930. J. M. CRAIGO ,7

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE I Filed March 15, 1928 9044 me. @mlgo l atented June 17, 1930 facial: assume nnnrronn; CONNECTIC T,ASSIG-NORaTO EDWARD H ROLD ROWARI'OE on c, my. I

' on'rnonon rrc' APPLI'AivoE" i 1 7 Application filed March 15, 1928'." Serial No. 262,007.

T is ve n r t r mova le ,Q hodontic appliances, and refers moreparticularly to V improvements, in orthodontia' or regulating appliances. I The aim ofthe invention is-to providea removable orthodontic appliance of thissort having various featuresof novelty andadvantage and which is relatively small and compact, whichis i relatively comfortable, which is simple but strong, which may be easily? andquickly secured in place and removed from the mouth hich, when ap .plied inthe mouth, is securely and positively held, against rotating, tilting or acc dental removal, and, by means of which the arch, ;fo rming. a part ofthe appliance, may beheld in close proximity to the; gum, the place where it is most effective jin'certain applia i 1 ,Other objects will bein part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter. i

,The invention accordingly-consists in the featuresot construction, combination. of, elements; and arrangement of parts whichwill be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe. application of which will be indicated ingithe appended claims. i f r; I :In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have shown, for illustrative purposes, two embodiments 'whi'ch 'the present invention may-'t'ake Figured is a plan view of a'set of teeth to which my improved orthodontic appn ancelils'appliedi. I f

Fig.2 is a perspective view showing a band',a pa1;t ofthe arch andthe means} for securing the arch and" band together; '1 p j Fig; 8 I is a detailed elevational; view showing the arch'secured to the band,

. is- 1 r a S t a ie tak n $llb$ti Fig-see qnsi ud'nali v eq ieli i fiiei taken 4 substantially line, 5 5 z 4,

the arch being shown elevation; 6 is-.a viewsimilar to, Fig. 2, but showing another form of the'invention;

a ig. 7 showing the embodiment of Figi 6;

is a view similar togFig; 3, but

Fig.:8 isga sectional View; taken on line I Fig.9 is a side elevational :view' showing the parts: of; the securing means of the r embodiment. shown, in Figs. .;6 and ,7 disen- In, thei i accompanying"drawings, I have shown the invention as used inconnection with an interior or lingual arch, but obvi- 0 5 t nven ion; is no l i ed 11:0, i this particnla'rc application. My improvements may beused in connectionjwith anex-terijor or labial arch or other; orthodontic element.

The archi may. be of any'suitable construction, that shown in the drawing beingjby way of illustration only. 1mg designated by the :numeralflO I The numerals gll designate bands: which are mounted aboutlthe teeth lot the mouth in the usual. manner.

In the present instance,]the= orthodontic; ap-

pliance. is Shown as .being employed' vfor straightening certain pi -the", teeth and, 3 to thisend, the arch is provided with springs or ,fingers 12 which are so vshaped and loca ted as to properlyiengage, preferably adj acent the gum, those teetlrwhich are to be straightened orbrought: into ali-gnmentwith respect to; other teeth.

In accordance W1i1ll thepresent, invention,

; an gimproved arrangement is provided whereby. the arch may' be removably and ,efiectively connected to the bands In the embodiment .shownin Figs. Zto 5, the band P d d wit a: c rved:- ex sion n hocked; portion l5 whichprovides a curved ;seat; in which the arch is adapted to, re-

adapted to interlock 'with the hooked portion 15' so as to prevent accidental displacement of the arch with respect to the band. In this embodiment, the sleeve is in the form of a'pair of spaced rings 17 Connected together by a bridge portion 18. The ring portions 17 are spaced aparta distance sub 7 stantially equal that of the width or the ,hooked portion 15, and the bridge 18 is spaced outwardly from the arch a sufiicient 1 distance .to receive the hook. The sleeve is provided withan ear 19 which preferably extends outwardly from one edge of the bridge. v r 7 It will be seenithat, with the embodiment shown inFigs. 2 to 5, to secure the arch in place, it is brought to the position shown in Fig. 2 with the sleeve turned up as illustrated in that figure, and then the arch is lowered so as to engage the hook between the rings, and then the sleeve is tu'rned'to the position shown in Figs.- 3," 4; and 5. In

this/condition, the'parts are securely locked together. The arch is held against lateral movement by the hook and is held againstvertical movement-oil" of the hook by the bridge. It will the observed that the --arch mayibe very easily and quickly secured in I 1 place. To remove the-arch, as, for instance,

when'i-t is desiredtoclean the orthodontic appliance, it is merely necessary for the dentist to engage the tongue 19 with a tool and then turn the sleeve-t the position show-n'in Fig. 2"and then lift the archout of the mouth i g In the embodiment shown in Figs. 6 to 9,

inclusive, the hook 15 is shown'as being bifurcated, that is, it is slotted as at 20. Y The sleeve 16 rs provided with a tongue 21. The 4o hook portion 15 provides a circular seat which, by preference, is greater than 180 or-ahalffcircle, thus making it necessary 1 tofllongitudinallymove the sleeve into the 7 dinally *onthe arch. I u

seat instead of dropping it into the seat. The sleevelfi" isadapted to slide longitu- "*To secure the aroh in position, where the V "embodiment shown in Figs. 6 to 9 is em- {so as to engage inthe seat ofthe hook'15 ployed, the sleeve 16 maybe moved to the position shown in Fig.6, 'the'arch lowered as shown iIrF 9, and then the sleeve 7 n roved longitudinally to pOSltlOIl where it I engageslin the seat. lhen the pro ect1on or ear: 21- is engaged by a tool, and the sleeve is turned to the position shown inf Figs. 7

and 8 andiniwhich position the'earQYenin the slot 20. To removerthe' arch, the

operations are reversed. Obviously, any suitable means may, if foundlnecessary, be employed to prevent the member 1 from slipping with respect to the sleeves 116' and I6 ',,and to this iEroin the foregoing description, takenin I end, theirod orpartflO may *be rou'ghened.

connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be observed that a very economic and simpllfied construction isprovided. ..The parts are relatively simple and compact so that the structure, when in the mouth, is relatively more comfortablethan" similar structures as heretofore made. The arch is securely and positively held in correct position within themouth, and the or; thodontic appliancev may be. veryeasily and quickly positioned in and removed from.

place, thus facilitating frequent cleaning of the orthodontic appliance.

As. many changes could besmade the above construction and "many apparently widely di'fierent embodiments of this invention could-be made without departing from the scope thereof, it isintendedthat all matter contained inthe above description or 7 shown in theaccompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting-sense.

guage used in the following claims is tended to cover all'ofthe generic and spe- 'cific features 'of'the invention herein described and all statements of the scope Ro f: the invention which, as a matter of language,

might' be'saidto fall-therebetweenu we I claim as my invention: V

It isalso to be understood that the-lan- 1. In a removable orthodontic appliance,

a hooked memberadapted to be connectedtoatooth and providing a seat, an orthodontic element adaptedto-be' received'in'the seat of said hooked memben'and' rotatable means on said element adapted to inter-lock with" said member, said 'means being rotatr able withinsaid seat." V

2. In a removable orthodontic appliance, j V

to a tooth and forming a seat, an ortho- V a hooked member adapted to be connected dontic element adapted to be received inthe 'seat of- -saidinember,'and aturnable sleeve Y sleeve longitudinal-1y movable on said arch element and having a portion adaptedf 'to interlock with said hooked ,member said "sleeve being rotatable insaid seat;

,Iizo 4. In a removable orthodontic appliance,

a hooked member adapted to be connected r to atooth, an orthodontic element adapted to be received by said hooked member, and

' a sleeve turnable' on saidorthodontic element and having a bridge portion'adapted to receive said hooked Trix-ember 5. In a removable, orthodontic appliance,

a band, a hook thereon, "an arch, I and a sleeve-like memberturnab'leon saidaroh'and having a pair of spaced rings adapted to straddle said hook and an arch portion adapted to receive said hook.

6. In a removable orthodontic appliance,

a band, a hook thereon, an arch, and a sleevelike member turnable on said arch and having a pair of spaced rings adapted to straddle said hook and an arch portion adapted to receive said hook, said sleeve-like mem- V her also having a projecting ear adapted to be engaged by a tool.

JOHN M. CRAIGO. 

